


Family Don't End In Blood. It Doesn't End In Fire, Either

by Phantom_writer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adopted Children, Awesome Bobby Singer, Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/M, M/M, Overprotective Dean Winchester, Parental Bobby Singer, Top Dean Winchester, fire related injury, hospitalised child
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_writer/pseuds/Phantom_writer
Summary: Castiel is at work when he gets a call from his off duty firefighter husband that they are needed at their daughter's school. The lawyer has no idea what is going on but his husband insists it is important enough to cancel his lunch meeting.
Relationships: Andrea Kormos/Benny Lafitte, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Ellen Harvelle/Bobby Singer, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is, mostly, unplanned. It’s basically a ‘mindless typing and see what comes out’ sort of project. As such, there are a few things that I need to make note of… I haven’t decided on the rating level yet so I will be keeping it at ‘General audiences’… for now. I also haven’t figured out what couples will be making appearances.
> 
> This is for my friend Kim Ruble, who provided the picture that inspired the story

Cas was just about to leave his office to head over to his partner's office for a briefing when his phone rang. It was his husband. "Hello, Dean. I can't talk right now, I'm about to go into a meeting..."

"Cancel it and get over to the school. NOW."

Dean was frantic. Dean was never a frantic type of person and it gave Castiel pause. He stopped mid stride and shifted from, 'Can't talk now', to, 'you have my undivided attention'. "Dean, baby, calm down. Breathe. In, hold, out. Now tell me, calmly. What's wrong?"

"So; when you left this morning. You know I was supposed to be rostered off. Well they needed me to come in and cover Benny's shift. Our truck answered the call for a building fire. At the school. Baby. Our little girl was caught in the building. I can't leave while the fire is still so out of control. But they need a parent to go with her in the Ambulance."

"I'm on my way." He hung up sharply and then ran the rest of the way to his brother in law's office. "SAM! Sam. I have to go. I have to cancel the meeting." He all but screamed as he entered the office.

"What? Cas, are you alright, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I can't talk right now. Dean just called. There was a fire at Summer's school. She's being taken to the hospital."

"Say no more. Go. What're you still doing here?"

Castiel nodded, tossed the file meant for their meeting onto the desk and turned around to run out of the office, Sam's voice chasing him as he called, "take care of my brother and my niece."

Cas shot out of the parking lot and raced through the traffic to get to his daughter and husband. His stomach twisted with bile until he thought he was going to be sick. He and Dean had waited for years to adopt their daughter and now she was being rushed to a hospital for whatever fire related injury she had sustained. 

And Dean? What must he be thinking, to be the firefighter to take the call? Had he been the one to find their injured child? Not only was Dean a firefighter, he also pulled double duty as a paramedic, and Cas knew his husband would fight to the bitter end to save their daughter's life. But, despite his efforts to be more, Dean was still only human and he couldn't save every one he pulled from a burning building or met inside his ambulance.

Losing a child patient always messed Dean up for days. But for it to be their own child?

He stepped on the gas a little harder and screeched into the parking lot behind a fire truck. He was out and screaming for Dean before he'd even put the brake on.

"DEAN! DEAN!"

One of Dean's crew members was by the truck and saw him and waved him over. "He's with Summer in the Ambulance. He found her under a beam that had fallen from the ceiling. He won't leave her side." Cas was pretty sure this guy's name was Ben. He was fresh out of the academy and Cas had only met him once at a fundraising event a few months ago, which was why it surprised him so much that the kid recognised him.

He led Cas over to where the ambulance was, the back doors wide open. Dean was sitting in the chair beside the stretcher, their daughter's hand clasped tightly in both of his and pressed against his lips. His dirty, soot covered face was streaked with tears and when he looked up to see Cas climb inside his shoulders shuddered with fresh ones and Cas pulled him into his body, pressing his face to Dean's jacket. He kissed it, allowing his lips to linger for a long moment, expressing his grief and sadness.

They sat in silent vigil over their daughter's unconscious body until Bobby, Dean's boss, appeared at the doors. He spoke quietly, displaying his own grief - and of course he would, after Dean's parents had died Bobby had adopted both Dean and Sam and raised them like his own sons, Summer was as much Bobby's granddaughter as Dean was his son. "You're done here, Dean. You're no good to this team right now. Cas. You get them outta here. Take care of my boy and that kid of yours." and with that he closed the doors and Cas heard a loud bang on the side, signalling that Bobby had smacked it to give the driver the all clear to leave.

Silence fell over them again as Castiel, kneeling beside Dean's seat, his arms thrown around Deans shoulders in a death grip, Summer's hand still gripped tightly in both of Dean's. He let his head fall against Dean's jacketed chest again and Dean's dropped onto the top of his.

There was no paramedic in the back with them since obviously they figured Dean would take care of any issue that arose while en route into the hospital. Cass was grateful since it meant they had a little bit of privacy to worry about their little girl.  
Cas steeled himself to look at his precious baby and couldn't help a small sob. She was hooked up to IVs and breathing tubes and all kinds of equipment that were obviously keeping her alive.

Finally, he had to ask. 

He turned to kiss his husband's cheek and asked, quietly. "So, come on, talk to me." When Dean didn't respond Cas tapped his cheek and ducked to make eye contact. "Dean. I need to know, what’s wrong with her?"

"The beam, it fell on her legs. It had her pinned. She was conscious when I found her, that's how I found her at all, actually. She was screaming for me. She was so scared, Cas. So damn scared. The beam was too heavy for me to lift. She kept begging me to save her, to get her out. 'My leg hurts, daddy, help me, daddy. I don’t want to die here.' No matter how hard I tried, l couldn't, I, I couldn't... And then it burst into flames and she started shrieking, 'help me daddy, it's burning, help me' ..."

It was obvious Dean couldn't get any more out and Cas hushed him and tucked his face into his chest as Dean cried.

"What are her injuries?" Cas asked, knowing that Dean had to do this, for himself, that he had to handle this like a professional with any patient to keep himself together.

Plus, Cas also had to hear it as well, to know what the prognosis was.

Dean heaved a sigh. "The beam shattered her leg. And the flames caused severe burns to the limb from her waist to her ankle. It's the smoke inhalation we need to be concerned about. Damn it Cas. I couldn't save her. Why was I so weak? When it truly mattered the most, I was weak. If she lives through this, she'll have those burns for the rest of her life. Every time she looks at them she'll be reminded of how I failed her."

"You did not fail her, Dean. She is going to pull through. I promise. She is a fighter. Just like you. She's a Winchester. She'll pull through."

"God. I can't get her fucking screams out of my head. And that damn beam... God. I swear it weighed more and more every time I tried to get it off of her. She'd tripped as the beam fell, it's why it only got her leg. God. If she'd been on her feet when it landed.... fuck. Fuck. Damn it, Cas, why? Why did it have to happen to our little girl?"

"I can't answer that, Dean."

The ambulance stopped and the paramedics in the front got out, prompting Dean to wipe his face of his emotions, if not his tears and soot, and stood up just as the doors opened, "Yeah, well..." He didn't finish as he strode forward and jumped down to the ground, helping the station's full time paramedic, Jo, to pull the stretcher out to wheel inside.

Cas smiled gently at his adopted sister in law as he passed to fall into stride with Dean and the bed carrying their daughter. With each of them on either side of the bed, they entered the hospital ED.

A triage nurse came forward, addressing Jo and her partner, a paramedic Cas didn't know, as was, obviously the protocol, - obviously the hospital staff aren't going to ask a fire fighter what they needed to know.

But Dean, in his worked up state, didn’t think of that. He was thinking as a parent with an injured child by his side, not as a professional who had to hand off patients to someone better qualified to take control. So when the nurse asked Jo to talk, Dean snapped at her and began talking over Jo. "Why are you asking her? It's me you should be..."

"Dean!" Cas snapped sharply. "You're wearing your firefighting gear. How was this poor nurse to know you are also a paramedic? Calm down and be a professional about this. Right now you cannot be here as Summer's parent. You need calm your shit and let the hospital staff work. Now come over here and help me. I think I'm going to be sick." 

Dean shut his mouth and shot the nurse an apologetic look before moving to his husband's side as Jo began giving the nurse a rundown of the patient's condition. 

"Seventeen year old female. At school. Building caught on fire. She was running to get out and tripped. The support beam fell and pinned her leg. Took two fire fighters to lift it off her. We've treated her for smoke inhalation and had to give her strong pain medication to knock her out as she was in too much pain and wouldn't allow us to work on her. No complications en route to the ED. Before losing consciousness she did admit she has no feeling in the leg. Third degree burns entire leg. Definitely broken, possibly shattered."

"Poor dear. Are her parents on the way?" The nurse asked.

"They are her parents. They rode in the bus with us. Between you and me, sedate the fire fighter. He's riding a massive guilt trip because he couldn't get the beam off her leg on his own."

"I heard that Joanna Beth." Dean retorted, but there was no emotion behind it. He wasn't just tired, he was drained. And it was barely past noon.

He walked Cas over to sit in one of the hard plastic chairs behind them and crouched down in front of him. He placed both hands on Castiel's thighs and their eyes locked for a moment. He raised a hand to stroke through Castiel's ever-messy hair and then left it there, his fingers tangled in the soft strands of his black hair.

"I'm sorry. I was a total mess back there. I just... I keep hearing her screams in my head. Ya know? As a firefighter I see it all the time. But I never thought I would ever answer the call to save my own child."

Cas nodded. "I kept seeing every worst case scenario running through my head on the drive to the school. I didn't know what I would find when I got there. What condition was I going to find her body in? What state of mind you were in. I kept seeing her blackened corpse at the back of my mind. I imagined you out of your mind with grief being pinned down and injected with a sedative. I didn't know what to think."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. I could have told you in a better way. I didn't handle that too well. I'm sorry."

"Well. Duh. Of course you didn't. You had just pulled our daughter from a burning fucking building. I would have been a bloody mess too. I understand."

Dean nodded and leaned up to press their foreheads together. They didn't speak, but their silent looks spoke volumes.

Off to the side Jo and her partner were obviously watching them. "So, that's the husband, huh? I expected more. He's not as attractive as Winchester, is he?" The partner was a new recruit, hired in the last week since Dean’s last rostered on shift at the station as paramedic. He was almost full time firefighter right now, since all spots for paramedic were covered. So, it stood to reason that if Dean didn’t know the guy, then the guy didn’t know Dean. Therefore, he also did not know the relationship between him and Jo. Or between the rest of the station, for that matter.

But before Dean or Cas could set him straight, Jo did it for them. "Think. Very carefully. About what you say to me next, Greg. Dean loves Castiel to the point of insanity. They've been together since high school. And not only is Dean a paramedic and fire fighter, he was also a sniper. His father trained him from a young age on every manner of weapon available. When his father died he was adopted by Bobby, the man you call battalion chief, and who I call dad. That makes the fire fighter over there my brother. Now, are you sure you want to continue with your line of thought processes?"

"He's your brother?"

"He is. Which means your life can either be turned into a living hell right now, or it could go by smoothly for as long as you work in our station house."

"How many of you are related at work?" He asked.

"Enough." Jo told him.

"Let's just say, that we only have family over during Christmas lunch. And everyone on shift today attends, every year, without fail. Plus a few extras that were not in attendance today."

The two paramedics jumped in surprise and turned to see Dean standing in front of them, a hard gleam in his eye. In that moment, that look, Jo knew her brother had heard their conversation. She gulped and immediately began to apologise.

But she was ignored.

"If my husband and I weren't in a hospital waiting room, worrying about whether our daughter is going to wake up much less walk out those doors," Dean gestured behind them to the doors they'd come through, and then turned and jabbed the finger sharply into Greg's chest. Greg winced. "I'd be hauling your ass out to the parking lot and working out how many organs I could extract through your mouth. You EVER talk about my husband with disrespect again and I swear your life at work will be the LEAST of your goddamned worries. For your own good I suggest you ask Bobby for a shift change." He was calm and didn't raise his voice above any normal conversation. But it was clear how dangerously mad he was... even worse when he turned to Jo and added, "You speak to Bobby, get this asshole off any shift I'm on or so help me Joanna Beth..."

"I swear, I'm already on it." She told him, pulling out her phone as she began to walk away, dragging Greg by the shirt sleeve - not stupid enough to leave him alone with Dean as worked up as he was.

After a long time waiting for news, the crew from the station house, whether they'd been on shift and at the fire, or not, began trickling into the waiting area to be there for Dean and Cas. 

Even Benny, although he'd called in sick - and he looked it - made an appearance. He tried to stay and be there for his long time friend, but Dean practically threatened to put a restraining order against him if he didn't go home and rest, even calling Benny's wife at work to tell her what he was doing. When she got there to haul his ass home to bed she was carrying a bunch of flowers and a get well soon balloon, saying she just knew in her heart that Summer was going to wake up and find them. Cas hugged her and then she dragged her husband back to bed.

After that, Garth led the procession of the ones on scene. The fire was out and there'd been only two more casualties. A young boy who had been trapped in a toilet, he suffered a broken wrist and minor burns. And a female teacher who had gone back into the building after she'd found out one of her students was missing.

"She was looking for Summer. Someone had told her she hadn't come out but no one knew that she had come out." Garth told him.

"Jesus. Is the woman alright. I'd like to speak to her if we can." Cas asked, tucked under Dean's arm and held tightly to his side. Dean turned them and wrapped his other arm around him and kissed the top of Cas's head.

Garth shrugged, "Charlie and Meg have that one. They should be here somewhere. I'll go and see if I can find out what's going on."

"Thank you." Dean told him and the other fire fighter slash paramedic of the station house nodded before walking away.

Behind him came Ellen, Jo's mother and Dean's adopted mum. She spotted them and raced over, immediately pulling them both into her embrace. She owned the local bar, so she must have gotten the call about Summer after the fire. After all, if grandma Ellen found out her grandbaby was in the hospital and no one told her, there'd be hell to pay.

"You boys look like shit. Any news?" She didn't beat around the bush.

"No, ma, not yet. They're still working on her. They're trying to clean her airways. They'll worry about her leg only after they know she's going to survive the smoke inhalation." Dean told her, tiredly.

She stayed for a moment longer, asking more questions, but after a while it became clear that Dean and Cas didn't know any more than what they'd already told her.

Not long after she wondered over to find a seat Cas and Dean heard two more familiar voices approach them. This time it was no one from Dean's side.

"Gabriel. Balthazar." Cas almost broke down as he greeted his brothers. The only two people in his family who hadn't disowned him after he'd come out to his parents.

"How's Summer? Any news yet?" Balthazar asked as Gabriel took his turn hugging Castiel.

Dean shook his head and told them what he'd already told Ellen.

Again, they asked a few more questions, but, like Ellen, wondered away when they didn't get anything new.

Cas began pacing the room while Dean, finally having removed his jacket, leaned against the wall, head back, lightly hitting the plaster behind him. His arms were folded across his chest, one leg tucked up under his butt, eyes focused on the divot his husband was slowly wearing into the floor.

By now everyone had shown up and was waiting in the waiting room with them. From the paramedics on shift, Meg, Charlie Garth and Jo, to the guys on the truck, Cole, Kevin, Chuck and the others. They were all there. Silently waiting for news on the girl they all babied like she was their niece.

Even Sam had finally managed to rearrange all his meetings for the day. When he came, so did the rest of them; Jess, Sam's wife. Lisa, Ben's mother who had been absorbed into the clan after her son had joined the truck and 'paid her way by babysitting', with her came Rowena and her brother Fergus Crowley.

Rowena had been a close friend of Sam's during college. She was also, technically, Summer's other parent. She'd been forcibly impregnated by her abusive husband, who may or not have been 'disappeared' afterward - Crowley and Dean would never talk about it, even if they did know something. Giving these circumstances and the fragility of her mental state following this abuse Dean and Cas had stepped up and offered to take the child.

Years later Rowena was doing a lot better and with the help of Fergus had opened a little cafe, which was thriving with the frequent business of the fire fighters she doted on.

Fergus, however, had only been adopted into the family after Summer was born. He'd been a friend of Dean's before hand, but the circumstances surrounding his sister's abuse and Summer's conception and birth had cemented him as family.

They all sat around the room in various degrees of worry, weariness and anxiousness. Everyone was silent and in some cases, such as Ellen and Rowena, they were sobbing.

Suddenly a body pressed into Dean's chest and his husband buried his face into his shirt, his own silent tears wetting the material. Dean tilted his head down and tucked his nose into the crook of Castiel's neck as their arms wound around each other.

"Hey, baby, don't cry, please. She's going to be alright. I promise." Dean whispered into his husband's ear.

"We've been here for hours. Why hasn't anyone come out yet?"

As if his question had summoned her, a doctor in blue scrubs came through the door. "I'm looking for Summer Winchester's family?"

"That's us." Everyone stood up and took a step forward, to the doctor's surprise. But Dean shot everyone a withering glare and, with Cas pressed to his side, walked forward.

"We are her parents. Is Summer alright?" He asked.

"We've cleared her airways as much as we could. And we've tried to immobilize her leg, but I'm afraid, with the burn, we can't cast it. Instead we've had to go the more dramatic route and go in to pin it. Fortunately the burn itself wasn't as bad as we'd first thought. We expect almost no scaring. Faint ones if any at all, at the very least I don't expect them to be so disfiguring that it will impact her life. From what I understand, the beam wasn't on fire for long before it was removed, correct? It's possible that's why the leg wasn't burned too badly. Time will tell with the break, however. As I said, we had to pin it, to do that, we had to set it and drill into the bone. I'd still like to keep her here. Here I can make sure she stays off the leg. If she must go home though I'd Like your assurances that she will be non weight bearing..."

"We'd rather she stayed here, under your watch. Dean's a paramedic, of course so he has medical training, but we don't want to risk anything happening while her leg is broken." Cas decided. Dean nodded.

The doctor relaxed a little. "Great. I'm glad you agreed to keep her here. I will take good care of her. My hope is that we can get that burn cleared enough to cast it and send her home."

"Great. Now, what about her lungs and her airways?" Dean asked.

"Her airways weren't so lucky. They were scorched. Her lungs have been cleared, yes, but she is in a great deal of pain. As such I've put her into a small coma for a couple of days, hopefully it will help to begin to repair some of the damage and make it easier for her to breathe again. She will have a tube in her nose and down her throat for at least that long. Once she is out of the coma she will probably experience asthma-like symptoms. Possibly for the rest of her life."

"Could we be looking at a lung transplant?"

"Not likely."

Castiel's legs gave out and Dean's quick reflexes caught him before he hit the ground. He turned to pull the lawyer into his chest and held him tightly.

It was clear that Dean and Cas were unable to process any thing more, so while Sam led them over to the seats, Bobby took over speaking to the doctor, introducing himself as Summer's grandfather.

Caught up in their own little world with their daughter in the hospital, Dean and Cas had forgotten how the fire fighting community banded together in times of tragedy.

At least. They did, until a group of fire fighters from another station house showed up, and one by one they stopped in front of Dean to pay their respects. One, a big guy, about Benny's size, introduced himself as David, stopped and actually spoke to both Dean and Cas for a few moments. He said his wife, Kim, would kick his backside if he didn't at least come and show his respect, regardless of the fact that Dean wasn't on his truck, Dean was a fire fighter, and that counted.

Dean stood and shook the man's hand. "Thank you. We appreciate that."

"Anyway. Oh, here, I almost forgot, my wife told me to give you this for your little girl." He said, handing Castiel a small stuffed bear with a fire fighter's jacket on. "To remind her that we all have her back. Family doesn't end in blood, right?"

"Exactly my thoughts. Thank you, again, for being here."

/_/_/_/_l

Eventually everyone left to go home except their immediate family. Jess had a shift at the hospital in a few hours so she went home to get cleaned up and come back to begin her rounds. And Ellen sent Jo out to close up the bar. 

While they were gone Bobby and Ellen made a run to McDonald's, so for a while it was just Dean and Cas and they were sent in to sit with their daughter.

"Oh, my baby. My poor girl. You look so banged up. But, you're in good hands here. Your doctor sounds pretty competent. And aunty Jess says she will check in on you occasionally. Grandpa and grandma, well you know them. They'd give your dad a real run for his money in terms of fretting over you here. They're all going to be impossible to live with. You know that, right?" Castiel sighed, fidgeting with the hospital blankets covering his daughter's body.

Dean watched him silently by the window. "Oh, please, playing this off like I'm the one whose going to be impossible. Look at you, fussing over how straight the blankets are. You're the mother hen." Dean teased. He leaned down to place a gentle kiss to Castiel's head.

Cas batted at him gently and then he finally registered something; Dean was still in all his gear, still soot and tear stained, still smelling like a burning building. And that reminded him, Dean had tried to lift a burning hunk of wood. His brows turned down and knotted together in the middle. "Dean, show me your hands?"

"What? Why?" He answered with amusement, either consciously or unconsciously, moving his hands out of sight.

"Dean, show me your hands. Please."

Dean sighed. He shifted and held out his hands, palm down, for Cas to see.

Cas reached for them, already knowing what he was going to find. Didn't prepare him for actually seeing it though. He swore, viciously. Dean's hands were so badly burned Cas didn't know if they were even hands any more. They were red and blistered and obviously caused his husband a great deal of pain.

"Oh, Dean." He wanted to cry. His husband had been suffering in absolute silence for hours. Of course, he got it. He understood why Dean would keep his mouth shut about it. He wanted his daughter to be looked after first. She'd been his number one priority this whole time. Any parent would be the same way.

But Summer was all but free and clear of the danger she'd been in hours ago.

Cas took Dean, by the wrists, gently, and led him over to the sink to run cold water over them before moving to the bed to call the nurse.

"Cas, really, I'm fine."

"Shut up, idjit. You are not fine. Look at your bloody hands, Dean. Wait til I tell dad. Idjit." Cas retorted as a nurse came into answer the call button.

"What's up?" She asked them.

"In all this drama, we've been so concerned with Summer, I didn't put it together until just now. Her father tried to lift a burning wooden beam off of her. With his bare hands."

"Wait, what?" The nurse looked over at Dean in confusion and noticed that he had his hands under the water in the sink. She snatched one to look at it and gasped. Dean huffed an annoyed breath and shot Cas a bitchface to rival Sam.

The nurse radioed it in on her portable that she needed someone from the burn unit to come and look at a possible third degree.

There was a response and the nurse gave Dean a satisfied look and directed him over to the one other bed in the room. She obviously didn't have anything with her since she hadn't known what she was responding to when Cas pressed the button, but she was a nurse and even without supplies to treat the wound, she still had a few tricks and tests she could do.

After about fifteen minutes another doctor in blue scrubs entered the room and they had a conversation where Dean was clearly the subject. The pair approached him and Dean lifted his hands, because, duh, what else would they be looking for?

"Hmm. You're right, these are third degree. You said you were trying to lift a burning piece of wood?"

Dean nodded.

"What possessed you to play with fire?"

Dean shot the doctor an 'are you serious' look, dropping one burned hand to his knee, showing off his gear. "I'm a fire fighter. Its kinda my job description. This time it was a giant support beam. And it had a girl pinned under it. That one." Dean told him, pointing over to the bed where his daughter lay.

"Oh, right. Yes, I was the one who looked at her leg. Very lucky young lady. Haven't had the chance to speak to her parents about treatment though."

"You're talking to them now." Dean answered, gesturing to where Cas now sat, next to Summer's bed with his hands over hers, staring up at the monitor, quietly beeping away.

"Hmm, these hands suddenly make the world of sense now. I can't imagine what you went through, trying to drag a burning piece of wood off your own daughter's leg."

"Thank you. Hey, Cas, baby. Come here. Meet the doctor who might be able to treat Summer's burn."

Cas wandered over and shook the man's hand as he sat beside Dean on the bed.

"Well. It isn't as bad as we'd feared. Not quite into third degree territory but outside of the second degree spectrum. That means treatment isn't as complicated as it could have been. What does complicate matters is that the beam broke her leg. The doctor treating the break can't do much until that burn clears.”

“Yeah, we did speak to her earlier, she wants to keep Summer in.”

“You’ll have better luck keeping her off the leg if she’s in here than we ever would at home. She’s an active child. Running, swimming, and I think she was talking about netball this season.” Cass answered.

“No, it was basketball. She was having a fit about the boys on the team not letting her play. For some reason she didn’t like it when I told her that I would happily break some noses.”

Cass laughed and kissed Dean’s cheek in soft admonishment.

Dean wasn’t as hard assed and violent as he pretended to be. But then again, Summer was a special case. She was his daughter for one, and like any other ‘Big Bear’ dad, Dean was overprotective. And nothing set off an overprotective father like finding out his daughter was being sexually harassed at school. Summer not being ‘good enough to play’ just because she was a girl was just one issue in a long line of problems the poor kid endured. They’d offered to pull her out and send her somewhere else, but she refused to give them that satisfaction.

“Alright, now. Since her treatment can’t begin right away, let’s say we look at those hands of yours. You’re right, they are third degree burns. Which is to be expected, your daughter at least had jeans to protect her leg. I understand you had nothing, correct?”

Dean nodded.

By the time Bobby and Ellen came back with food, Dean’s hands had been cleaned, smothered with burn cream and bandaged. The doctor was long gone and Castiel had gone home to have a shower and pack some things for Summer.

That left Dean alone, to face the wrath of his adopted parents over hiding his hands from them.

Truthfully, he’d known all along that he’d cop it well and good from Bobby. And, he honestly didn’t have an excuse. He was a firefighter and a paramedic, his hands were vital to his continued employment. 

Obviously. 

"They had the hand gear for that specific reason, you idjit." Bobby snapped at him.

But, his daughter was the patient this time. He hadn’t been thinking like a firefighter rescuing a child. He’d been thinking like the parent whose little girl had been screaming at him not to let her die there; his precious baby who he’d longed for probably even longer than his husband had been begging him for one (of course, that bit was hard to tell, since he and Cass had been together since high school and had, even back then, talked about having kids together).

When he said as much to Bobby the old man simply sighed and turned sad. He pulled his adopted son into his body and hugged him tightly.

“I nearly lost her, Bobby. My hands, my hands were nothing compared to that.”

“You’re still an idjit. But, I get it. I’d have done the same thing.”

After that Bobby and Ellen stayed for another few moments before Cass came back.

It was an unspoken agreement that their daughter’s bedside would be their new home for foreseeable future. 

Cass and Sam had their own law firm, meaning Cass had no Higher Ups to answer to for missing work, and with his hands in the condition they were in, Dean had been put on indefinite leave.

Finally, alone with their daughter again, Cass heaved a deep exhausted sigh and fidgeted with the blankets around Summer, for the thousandth time.

Dean appeared beside him and squatted to his level, forcing Cass to turn and look at him. “You’re exhausted. You should get some sleep. She’s in a coma, she’s not going to wake up any time soon.”

Cass nodded tiredly, stood up and stumbled.

Dean caught him and held him tightly. Cass barely managed to suppress a sob, but the fact that he clung tighter to Dean’s shirt told the firefighter that he was crying, and his arms wrapped tighter. Dean had gotten his grief out at the scene, now it was Cass’s turn.

“What’re we going to do if she doesn’t make it?” Cass sobbed, brokenly.

“She’ll make it. She’s a Winchester. She doesn’t know defeat.” Dean told him firmly. 

Around the time the canteen staff were bringing food around to the patients, the doctor in charge of treating Dean’s hands came in to speak to them. “I’ve had a discussion with the doctor taking care of your daughter. And we’ve agreed that given the condition of your hands, while it isn't very likely, there is a chance of infection, which is why we’re going to admit you. And under the circumstances, we’ll have you in here so that you can stay together." 

Cass heaved a deep sigh and sagged against Dean’s side. Dean pulled him close and kissed his temple. “It’s Going to be alright, Cassie, I swear. We’re going to get through this. It’s only a minor burn.”

The doctor looked like he wanted to argue and tell them the burn was actually as serious as they get, but the look on Dean’s face told him that he knew perfectly well how bad his hands were. That he was just trying to reassure his husband.

So, instead he said, “I’ve had all the paperwork written up, so I’ll just go check in at the nurse’s station and inform them of the situation. I’ll leave you to get settled.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

He nodded and left.

“Well, I guess its lucky that I bought you a change of clothes. I’ll ring Bobby later and ask him to bring up a few more later.” Cass sighed, picking up the duffel bag he’d dropped onto the chair beside Summer’s bed. “I guess I just had a feeling you were going to need it.” He shrugged, looking over at Dean, who hadn’t moved from his spot where they’d been speaking to the doctor. “What?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking.” Dean muttered.

“About what?”

“Never mind, it ain’t important. I guess you’ll have Bobby bring up clothes for us both.”

It wasn’t a question. They both knew without even saying a word that Cass would never leave the hospital as long as both his daughter and husband were in it.

“You’re not going to let this be an excuse to fret, Cas, ok? She’s alive, I’m alive. We’re both ok.” Cas nodded and let himself be pulled into the security of Dean’s protective arms.

“So, it looks like the Winchesters have a new home for the next few days, at least.” He said tiredly, feeling justified when he felt more than heard Dean puff out a soft chuckle.


	2. Chapter 2

Although Dean was technically a patient, he was mostly compos mentis enough that his doctor was happy for him to be left to his own devices. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were at the hospital with Summer anyway, Dean would have been treated as an Outpatient for his injuries. That left him with the free will to leave on a food run for them both instead of waiting for the canteen staff to bring them something. 

That was why when Summer woke up three days later Castiel was alone in the room. Dean had left to get some food from the cafeteria when it happened. 

Between her coma, and Dean’s treatments on his hands, Castiel was exhausted and emotionally drained. He hadn’t eaten very much in the last few days; too distracted to focus on anything else, much less eat. And now, Dean had had enough and muttered something about getting a burger. Castiel barely heard him.  
And if Summer hadn’t decided to wake up at that moment he probably wouldn’t have realised until Dean had come back, that the food run had been intended for Castiel.

The doctor had warned them that they might need to wake Summer out of the coma manually. So, when her hand twitched in his, it gave him the shock of his life. Up until that point he’d been sitting beside her bed – where he’d planted himself three days ago, only moving when he had to be with Dean in the other bed – his hand tucked into hers, reading case notes for one of the clients he and Sam were set to defend next week in court. He’d been so startled he threw the case file over his shoulder as he leaped to his feet. The file was forgotten almost immediately as he leaned forward to stroke his daughter’s face, smiling through his tears.

“Hi, baby.”

“Dad? Where am I? Where’s pops?”

And, that’s when he realised that Dean would probably be bringing food back to force down Castiel’s throat. He’d worry about that later.

“He went to get some food. You’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?”

The girl’s eyes seemed to glaze over for a long moment as she searched her brain for the answer. She must have moved wrong, trying to sit up, or shift into a more comfortable position, because she cried out and threw her upper body at her legs, like she was trying to protect her injured leg; or maybe trying to make the pain stop.

“Fire. I was at school. There was a fire.” The girl finally answered, looking back up at her father. Cas nodded.

“Yeah. You were running to escape and tripped. A support beam fell on your leg. The weight broke the leg, and then it caught on fire and burned it as well. It took your father and Uncle Cole both to lift it off.”

Just as he’d finished his explanation Dean walked in. It took him a moment to process what he was seeing. When it did register, he practically threw the bags of food he’d been holding across the room. He leaped forward to pull his daughter into his arms, not caring that burgers and fries had spilled out all over the floor.  
“Oh, baby. Oh my darling, beautiful, precious child. I thought I’d lost you. I… my god, I… that beam, your cries… a parent’s worst nightmare… I love you so much, Summer-girl. Oh fuck, so much.” Dean rattled off. He didn’t seem to notice or care that he couldn’t manage to finish a single sentence.

“Pops. You’re squishing me. I can’t breathe.” Summer wheezed.

“Dean, let her go, you’re hurting her. Come on babe. We almost lost her to a fire, don’t let her gravestone read ‘survived a fire and a broken leg, only to be crushed to death by my father’s bear hug’. Come on.” Cass teased, gripping Dean’s upper bicep to begin prying his husband away from their injured daughter.  
But he needn’t have bothered, because at that moment Summer’s doctor walked in after knocking quickly. Dean pulled away from Summer, turning to the doctor expectantly.

The woman paused for a moment, apparently to take stock of what she was seeing. After a short hesitation she smiled, her attention zeroing in on her young patient. “Welcome back, Miss Winchester. I must say, this is a much better, more preferable vision. I’m Doctor Barnes. You can call me Pamela. I’m the pulmonologist assigned to your case. I had come in to prepare to wake you up, but I see that’s not needed now so I guess the plan now is for me to hand you over to the next doctor. Because now that you’re awake we can start working on healing that leg of yours so we can get you home. But, before I go and bring in the burns specialist do you have any questions?”

“What’s a pulmonologist?”

“It’s the name we use for doctors that specialize in the respiratory system. In your case, being trapped under that beam caused you to inhale more smoke than anyone else. It means that your lungs were severely burned. We had to put you into a deep sleep to give them time to heal.”

“What, like a coma?”

“In simple terms. Yes. In medical terms the burns led to your inability to breathe on your own. Therefore, you required mechanical ventilation and a breathing tube.”

“Is that why my throat feels scratchy?”

The doctor nodded. “We took that out this morning when we were discussing plans to begin waking you up.”

“Why did you put me to sleep? Couldn’t you have just put the tube in while I was awake?”

The doctor shook her head. “Mechanical Ventilation with a breathing tube without sedation and strong pain killers becomes too uncomfortable for the patient. So, we had to put you into a coma then insert the tube. Mechanical ventilation gave us the ability to bypass your damaged lungs and keep you breathing while your lungs healed.”

“So what does that mean in terms of playing sports and moving on with my life?”

“Well, we will still monitor you here for a few days, watch for signs of asthma and such. But so far your lungs are beginning to look better, which was why we’d decided that we could wake you up today. If all goes well, there should be no permanent effects. You may not have asthma now, but don’t be alarmed if you do develop it later. But, sadly, my time with you ends here. In a moment I’ll leave and bring in the man who will be working his magic on your leg, now that you’re awake. I just want to listen to your lungs first.”

Summer nodded and leaned forward, positioning herself so that the doctor could reach her chest. As the woman began her exam Summer glanced up to see her parents leaning into each other at the foot of her hospital bed, as usual her pops had a tight grip on her father, like he was trying to hold him up. 

If they were a straight couple her father Castiel would be the soft hearted mama bear, emptying box after box after box of tissues while he drowned in tears at the bedside of his critically ill child. Her papa Dean would more than likely be the strong Alpha Male type who stood, stoic and silent, in the corner, not an ounce of emotion on his face, while he was truly dying on the inside.

It was how they presented themselves to the outside world. 

She didn’t know a lot about what their lives had been like before she was born, but she did know that they’d both been dealt a ‘shitty hand’. Her papa told her that much at least, because it had been a part of the speech he’d given her when trying to explain why he and Castiel tried so hard to shelter her from things like guys who thought it was funny to grope her after they ‘accidentally’ fell. Her uncle Sam did let slip one day that he and Pops had been adopted by Grandpa Bobby in their teens and implied all the ‘damage’ for her father had been done ‘in the years before that’.

So, Dean’s way of coping was to be the big strong ‘alpha male’ type of guy. The ‘real men don’t cry, and real men don’t use kitchens because that’s women’s work’ sort of guy.

But, Summer knew her pops better than that.

He was kind, and nurturing and gentle. He doted on her. And he worshipped her daddy. And he’d taught her that ‘real men’ don’t abuse their position over other people, no matter what the circumstances were. Her daddy Dean was her hero, and not just because he was a firefighter and had literally pulled her out of a burning building a few days ago.

He was her hero because, despite being overbearingly protective, he was everything she wanted in a husband. He was the kind of man every man on earth should be.

He just didn’t know it. And it made her sad.

Her father Cas looked like he should have been a woman in her father’s arms.

Suddenly, the absurd thought that, despite how they behaved in the presence of others, she knew for a fact that all changed at home. The memory of her father, Dean, dropping to all fours and crawling across the kitchen floor and laying his head down in her lap and looking up at her with puppy dog eyes resurfaced. 

It had been her tenth birthday and he’d forgotten to pick up her favourite birthday breakfast on his way home from work that morning. She’d told him she would never forgive him, even though they both knew she already had, so he crawled to her like a puppy dog and whine at her until she doubled over with laughter and said, ‘alright, fine, you’re forgiven, but don’t do it again’. 

No one ever saw when Cass kissed her goodnight and drew little hearts on her hand if he came home from work after she’d fallen asleep, their own little Secret Code that told her she’d been kissed by an angel that night. Even at almost eighteen, he still drew that heart on her hand.

“Your lungs sound good. Not great, but enough to make me happy. I’ll go and get the other doctor so you can talk to him about your leg.” Doctor Pamela said then, patting Summer’s shoulder to indicate that she could sit back and relax now.

“Thank you, Doc. We appreciate everything you’ve done for Summer.” Dean told her, holding his hand for her to shake. She smiled and shook it. And that was when Summer noticed his hands. They were both heavily bandaged and it made their handshake awkward and suddenly, Summer understood. He’d pulled that beam from her leg. He’d taken his fire gloves off to pick up that burning beam.

“…She’s still got a few issues; like I said, don’t be alarmed if she develops asthma later. And I wouldn’t recommend she do any sports for a while, even after her leg is all healed, her lungs probably won’t be up to one hundred per cent capacity for some time.” The doctor was saying when Summer tuned back into the conversation, focus now completely on her father’s hands.

Her parents both nodded that they understood and the doctor left, shooting Summer a quick wink.

“She’s nice. I like her.” Summer told her parents.

Cass nodded, “She’s been very good to you.” He told her as he approached the bed and kissed her hair. “How do you feel, baby?”

“Like I just had my lungs burned out of my chest and my leg crushed under a burning support beam.” The teenager replied.

Cass clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Alright smarty pants. You get a pass. This time. But don’t think that cheek will last forever.” He told her affectionately. “Besides, I don’t think your father could handle another incident like this.”

Suddenly reminded of her father’s role in her rescue, she looked up at the man still at the end of her bed, and just like that, his behaviour when he came in made sense. It had nothing to do with being a parent whose child was in hospital. This was a man who’d been there to see exactly what had caused his child’s pain, had dragged her away from it.

This was a man who had been on the scene the moment his only child had almost died. A man who had watched the whole thing unfold, from beginning to end.  
“Oh. Daddy. I’m so sorry. You saved me. You never left my side.” She held out her arms, needing her father to scoop her up in his strong arms, like he used to do when she was very young.

“Of course not. I will always be there to rescue you, no matter what.” Dean told her, doing exactly as she wanted, pulling Castiel into the embrace with them.

“You’ve always been my hero. And now, you really were my hero.” She told him.


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty minutes later, another doctor walked in. He greeted the family, introduced himself to Summer, but before he spoke to her about her leg he explained that he wanted to just take a peek at Dean’s hands. He followed Dean across the room to the bed he and Castiel had been sharing and then quickly set about the routine of inspecting the burned hands. 

“They’re healing, slowly, which is good news. Maybe another ten to twelve weeks. Good news is that we won’t keep you in that whole time. You can even go home today. I know your husband must be exhausted. The bad news is that you will be left with some scarring. Just how much, I can’t say.”

“Scars? You think that’s my biggest worry, Doc? Scars are nothing compared to the feeling I get when I look across the room to see my daughter look back at me and smile.”

Reminded of his other patient in the room the doctor proceeded to rewrap Dean’s hands and then turned to address the teen.

It was a long discussion, and clearly Summer had gotten more than she’d bargained for once the doctor began describing, in as much detail as he could, exactly how lucky she truly was. He explained that because the burn was just too extensive and could possibly take too long to heal, the leg couldn’t be cast so they’d had to insert a metal rod. After a few more moments and at least a million more questions, even Summer agreed she would rather stay in the hospital until the doctors were comfortable in letting her go.

So, while Castiel stayed with their daughter to figure out the finer details of her continued stay, Dean called Bobby to tell him, who promised to pass it on to all the others. 

Not long after they spoke, Ellen rang and offered to bring some things up for Summer to have in the hospital. Summer took the phone from her father and proceeded to list all the comfort items she could think of to have with her. After that she spoke a little longer with her grandmother about how she was feeling, Ellen telling her that she was so worried about her and that she was super glad she was awake. Summer told her she couldn’t wait to see her and Aunt Jo, who was coming up to the hospital with her when she brought her things.

“Oh, honey, my phone needs to be charged, but I will see you real soon.”

“Oh, ok, grandma. I’ll see you when you come up then. Love you.”

“Love you too, honey bear.”

Summer smiled at the old nickname and handed the phone back to her father. Dean kissed her head as he took it back and then Castiel stepped in to start fussing over Summer’s blankets again.

“Daddy, you don’t have to pull the wrinkles out of my blanket every time I move.”

“Let him go, Summer, he’s going to be like this whether we like it or not.”

Summer groaned. “You mean he’s going to be more overbearing and protective than he already was? I didn’t even think that was possible.” She grumbled good naturedly. Her cheeky grin giving her away. Dean saw it and chuckled at Castiel’s expense. 

But Castiel, still fussing and tucking, growled in outrage. “HEY! I’m a parent, it’s my job to be overbearing and protective. Especially since I almost lost my only child!”

The dig took the wind out of Summer’s teasing tone and her grin slid off her face like water off of granite. “I’m sorry, daddy. I was just teasing.”

Castiel nodded. “I know…” He trailed off, leaving Summer to wonder what he left unsaid as she reached out to hug him. She didn’t like thinking her parents might be suffering in their own ways because of her injury so she reached out and grabbed him by the arm and yanked, meaning for him to lean in so she could hug him. But he wasn’t expecting the tug, apparently, and he had to throw out his other hand to catch himself so he didn’t fall on top of her.

“I love you, dad.” She murmured into his neck as she tried with all her might to squeeze the life out of him.

“Oh, honey, I love you too. I’m alright. I promise. You just gave us a scare, is all. I’m trying to make myself believe that, after seeing the state you were in, you are still alive. I still keep thinking this is a dream.”

“Cass. Babe. Why don’t you go on home and get some rest, hmm? You still need to meet with Sammy about that trial you’ve been working on.” Dean told him.

Cas nodded and pulled away from his beloved daughter to glance at his other Great Love. “You’re right. In fact, in saying it, I actually feel the exhaustion catching up with me. But I don’t think I’ll be able to drive home. I think I’ll wait until Ellen gets here and have her drive me home.”

“In other words, you know you’re tired, but you don’t want to leave Summer in case she needs something. Baby, look at me. Summer’s fine. Ok? Look at her, she’s alive. She’s going to make it. She’s out of the danger zone now. I will call an Uber and you will go home and rest. You’ve been here for three days. And now that she is awake and talking, you can finally get some sleep.”

“What about you? What’re you gonna do?”

“I’ll be fine here. I swear. Just take some time to get yourself together again.” Dean spoke as if they were the only two in the room, brushing some hair away from Castiel’s face and then cupping his cheek to pull him in for a gentle kiss. “Go home and rest, please. You’re no good to anyone like this.” He said gently.

Finally, Cass heaved a deep sigh and nodded, accepting another kiss from his husband before turning to hug and say goodnight to his daughter. She smiled at him comfortingly and he left the room with Dean, who was talking on the phone, ordering Cass the Uber he mentioned.

They walked hand in hand down to the front to wait for Cass’s ride, and when they got here Dean said he would walk Ellen and Jo up to see Summer.

Dean caught Cass's chin gently, lifting it so their eyes met. “Don’t go home and not rest, ok? I’ll be home in about an hour or so, and you had better be sleeping when I get there. So, don’t go home and call Sam to talk shop. Don’t go home and pay the bills. Don’t go home and then go back out again to get any groceries. I will do that on my way home, and I will pay the bills when I get there. You are to go home and sleep. Got it?”

Cass smiled fondly up at his bossy husband. Dean always had looked out for him, even as kids in school; if anyone had dared pick on Castiel, they’d wind up with a mouthful of fist and a stomach full of their own teeth – that had happened to Arthur Ketch, in fact. Dean had walked around the corner of the library to hear Ketch call Castiel a fag and had wound up having his stomach pumped for the six teeth he’d choked on.

“And if I don’t? What’re you gonna do about it, Winchester?” Cass challenged playfully.

Dean’s eyes narrowed, about to let rip with an angry tirade, until he realised Castiel was teasing him. He growled softly and leaned down to snatch the lawyer’s mouth with his. Their tongues battled for dominance inside of Castiel’s mouth, though Dean won, obviously.

Castiel always let him win. He didn’t want to be dominant over Dean for any reason, even for just a kiss; he was the submissive one and he liked that. Dean took such good care of him, in every aspect of their lives, so why would he even want to dominate?

“If you don’t, I am going to make you regret it.” Dean told him huskily. 

Cass shuddered. That was Dean’s Bedroom Voice. The one he used when Cass was about to be kept up all night. The voice that had convinced Cass a long time ago that their bed is sturdier than it looked, but even still, it was going to break one day, and Dean would still be fucking him even in the ruins. He gulped and then nodded, message received, loud and clear.

“So, I’ll just run a few errands and then be waiting for you in bed, wearing nothing but a boner and a set of beads in my ass?” Castiel smirked.

Dean would have said something about how much he looked forward to seeing that, except Castiel’s ride pulled up then and Dean reached around his husband to open the door and then hand him carefully into the passenger seat. 

Before closing the door he leaned down and caught his husband’s lips with his, bracing his weight on the side of the car door so that he didn’t fall. “I’ll see you at home. Get some sleep.”

Cass nodded.

Fortunately, he wasn’t left to dwell on it for too much longer after Cass drove away. Ellen shoved him in the ribs to get his attention and when he turned to grin sheepishly her look of bemused annoyance told him she’d been trying to get his attention for some time. 

“Cas go home did he?” She asked. She’d known them for a lot of years, had even had a hand in raising them after Bobby had adopted them. And if there was one thing she knew about Dean, it was that it wasn’t easy sneaking up on him…

Unless, of course, he’d just been with Castiel. 

Nothing could put his lights out like Cas could.

He was so lovestruck by Castiel, even as kids trying to figure out their sexuality, that Dean often spent days after speaking to the other teen with the same vacant look in his eyes and that same dopey smile on his lips. 

“Yeah.” He giggled.

Ellen smiled to see Dean so happy. Jo made a gagging noise and her mother jabbed her sharply in the side of the ribs.

“Come on, lover boy, let’s go and see this granddaughter of mine.” Ellen told him, gently guiding him back inside so he could lead them to Summer’s room.  
“Hear tell she needs some girl time while her parents run off for a little Up Time.” Jo couldn’t resist, despite her mother’s scolding.

“What? What, no, eww Jo! No! Cas just went home because he’s exhausted! He’s been up at this hospital for three days. He hasn’t slept, or eaten anything, unless I force it down his throat, the whole time. The last thing on either one of our minds is to have sex; our daughter is in the hospital!”

“Oh, I’m sure you love to force IT down his throat.” Jo teased.

“Joanna Beth, I suggest you cut it out, right now! Your niece has just come out of a coma.”

“Thanks, Ellen.”

They fell into a quiet conversation, with Dean going into further detail on what the doctor had said about Summer’s leg and his hands which lasted the rest of the walk up to the room. Summer was in bed, eating a yoghurt and watching a Cartoon on TV when they walked in. When she saw her grandmother and Aunt she beamed so wide her face threatened to split in half. “YAY! Grandma! You made it. Now you can tell Pops to go home. He needs his rest.”

“I’m leaving soon. Just waiting to see the doctor one last time.” Dean told her, kissing her hair as he spoke.

She smiled up at him and his heart gave a giant leap of happiness. She was here. She was alive and well. Nothing else mattered.

“What are you watching?” He asked her, because if he didn’t say something his heart would burst out of his chest and splatter all over her beautiful face.

“Dunno. Some stupid cartoon. The remote thingy fell down there somewhere. I can’t change the channel.”

“Here, I’ll get it.” Jo told her, jumping to do just that.

The women lapsed into a quite conversation and Dean silently moved off to the side to wait for the doctor to come back with his discharge papers. He had to wipe away a few stray tears watching them laugh and joke and tease Jo over her new Mystery Man, but those tears had earned their journey down his cheeks so he wasn’t going to feel embarrassed about them when the doctor did finally come back and hand him the paperwork.

“Thank you. So much. For everything.” Dean told him.

The doctor nodded and offered to walk Dean out to the front. Dean accepted and they talked amicably about nothing in particular, exchanged a few comments about Summer and how she would be alright in the hospital, and the doctor ended the conversation with his personal promise that he would make sure Dean’s baby girl really would be alright before leaving Dean at the front entrance.


End file.
